Today was our longest drive - from Death Valley to LA. We slept in a little, packed and set off out throught the Eastern side of the valley to the outskirts of the Mojave Desert. The roads through the desert were long and straight, with bends in the road signposted as though a major event were occurring. We passed through a few tiny settlements, stopping at one of the slightly larger ones (Baker) for a morning break. Robert discovered that the splendors of American culture include Starbucks in a can. So he had to try it.
The desert continued to be fascinating, with its geological history written large across the mountains.
At Barstowe we left the freeway on a dirt road to Calico ghost town, an abandoned silver mining town which boomed in the mid 19th century, and then crashed in the early 20th century. A few of the original buidings still stand, but most of the town is a recreation based on a fair amount of research and a teensy bit of creative license. The result is kitch but fun, just like cowboy movies.
We toured the silver mine, visited the museums in the buldings and tried sasparilla root beer in the saloon. Thomas was distinctly underwhelmed by sasparilla.
Back in the car, we headed through the outskirts of LA, then throught he suburbs of LA, then through some more suburbs of LA.... Some of the freeway interchanges had 6 overpasses stacked one above the next. Each seemed to be 6 lanes wide on each side. By the time we made it to our hotel we were exhausted. We staggered out to find dinner and were very happy to find that the reports of LA's food being a cut above the usual offerings to tourists were all true. We are now officially and literally on the home stretch.
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